Bus bench and waste can upgrades needed

There’s not enough benches along Johnston Road, Councillor Cindy Solda told city council on Monday night.

“We do have a lot of benches, especially down at the Harbour Quay, but we still need to add more benches on the Johnston Road corridor,” said Councillor Solda.

“A lot of the merchants [there] have said that there’s no place to sit.”

According to City Engineer Guy Cicon, the city currently has 42 benches from a contract with Bus Stop Ads.

The benches serve a dual purpose; raising revenue from the advertising on the back of the benches and also improving the accessibility of the city.

The merchants along Johnston Road have also decried the lack of garbage cans there and blame it for the garbage in the grass along the road.

“We only have three garbage cans on [the north] side [of Johnston Road] and that’s why you see garbage lying there.” said Councillor Solda.

She expects to raise the issue at the next city council meeting on Aug. 11th where she’s hoping to get approval for 10 garbage cans along Johnston Road, following the results of a report scheduled to come back to council that day.